Clay's Hope (29 page)

“If I’d spoken, even just one word, I would
have never been able to hold back what I felt for you. You would
have run.” And I would have chased you, scaring you even more, I
thought to myself.

She pulled back and met my gaze.

“Can I finally get answers from you now?
You’ll keep talking?”

I smiled at her excitement and nodded.

“Do you think I’m right about the—”

“Now’s not the time,” I said, glancing at
the door. “We’ll talk later.” I could smell Sam waiting out there.
His heart beat steadily with his patience. If I could hear his
heart, he was hearing every word we shared.

“No way. We’re talking now. If not about
that, then something else. I’ve waited over six months to hear your
voice. You owe me. I bit you.”

She made me want to keep smiling. This
crazy, adorable, intelligent, and gifted person was mine. Thinking
of her gift had me frowning. She’d just used it back there. I was
sure of it. Yet, she seemed fine.

“How are you feeling?”

She frowned and seemed to do a
self-assessment.

“Good, actually.” Her gaze became unfocused,
but she didn’t wince or pale. “It’s weird, but I don’t feel sick.”
After a moment, she came back to me. “I think we need a safe place
to talk.”

I nodded and glanced at the door again. As
soon as we left the room, Sam would want answers. Gabby had asked
some pretty crazy questions. I had questions of my own, now.

She slipped from my arms and yanked the door
open. Sam leaned against the wall opposite the door.

“Sam, since we don’t have any privacy, we’d
like to use the conference room. It’s soundproofed, and there are a
few things we need to discuss.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Sam said, motioning
for her to lead.

“Clay and I, Sam,” she said as she stepped
from the room. “I don’t have any answers for you.”

“Gabby—”

“No. Now it’s your turn to be bossed around
and told what to do. I did what you wanted and Claimed one of you.
Lay off.”

I didn’t need our link to know just how
pissed she was. But she was also afraid. Of Sam. Still, she turned
her back on him and started walking. Sam glanced at me. I arched a
brow. He sighed and started to follow her. I followed him.

She opened the door to the conference room
and turned to face Sam.

“Sam, I’m trying to do what’s best for me,
Clay, and the pack. There’s a lot I haven’t told you and things I
haven’t told Clay. Give me some time to sort everything out. I need
to make sure your goals mesh with mine before I can fully confide
in you.”

I stood behind Sam as he considered what
she’d said. Then, he stepped back and motioned me in with her.

“I’ll be out here,” he said.

She nodded, gently closed the door, then
turned to me. She brushed a hand through her hair.

“I’m not sure where to start.”

“Anywhere. I’ll listen,” I said as I pulled
her into my arms.

I felt her smile. “I can see everything,
Clay. Without pain.” She pulled out of my arms so I could see her
unfocused gaze. “Even without touching you, there’s no pain. I can
see so much more than before. Why?”

“It’s our link.”

“Wait. I thought the link happened
when...”

Her immediate blush gave away her thoughts.
I smiled.

“The full link happens after the Mating is
completed. With the Claiming we have a more limited version of that
connection.” My smile faded, and I looked at her more closely. “It
can still be broken, though. If there’s another potential Mate out
there...by biting him, you can break our bond and create one with
him.”

“Don’t use up your word quota for the day,”
she said with a slight shake of her head.

I grinned at her sass, and she stuck out her
tongue. Then she grew serious again.

“Clay, I won’t be biting anyone else. Ever.
But I do have something to tell you. When those wolves
attacked...the second one...”

Her hurt came back, and I nudged her,
falling back on my quiet ways.

“I felt the same pull with him as I do with
you. I don’t understand why that would happen. Sam said just one.
Experiencing that with someone else confused me and made me feel
horrible, like I cheated on you.”

I sighed, then gave her a reassuring
smile.

“I saw what happened. It concerned me, but
the kiss in the car helped me understand how you feel. Don’t worry
about it.”

She gave me a radiant smile. Then I felt
something over our link. It was warm and full and everything I’d
dreamed of.

“I love you,” she said.

In a blur, I wrapped my arms around her,
picked her up, and spun her around. Now she was mine. My Mate in
truth. My family. My place to belong.

She looked at me and laughed.

“Oh!” She squirmed to get down. “Please can
we get rid of the beard?”

I set her on her feet, and she hopped from
foot to foot in excitement.

I nodded and laughed.

“And I still want to get my degree. Can we
stay where we are until then?”

I wanted to say yes, but two men had tried
to take her, and she’d just hinted to an Elder that she thought
they weren’t werewolves but something else. Sam might try to change
her mind about going back to school. I glanced at the door.

She saw the look and her resentment toward
Sam drifted over our link. She stepped close to lay her head
against my chest and wrap her arms around my waist.

“Everyone I’ve ever loved this way I’ve
lost,” she said, hugging me close. “Don’t let me down.”

She was talking about Sam. He’d shaken her
trust. I would never do that to her.

“I won’t. You’re stuck with me forever,” I
said against her hair.

She pulled back and kissed me again. Her
love wrapped around me, and I never wanted to let go. For as long
as it took, I would wait patiently for the next step of our
relationship. And the next phase, our Mating, wouldn’t be decided
by her gift or some other outside influence. It would be her
choice, no matter how her sweet lips might tempt me.

Her phone chirped from her back pocket. She
groaned and broke away from the kiss. But I saw promise in her
eyes. I glanced at the number with her and recognized Luke’s
number.

As soon as she hit “talk,” Luke spoke in a
rush.

“Gabby, I have a problem,” he shouted over
the roar of an engine. Something popped loudly in the background,
and Luke swore just before the phone went dead.

Gabby looked up at me with a frown. Then her
gaze went vacant, and I knew she was using her special sight
again.

“Clay, I don’t think I have a choice
anymore. Something’s happening to Luke. The other werewolves are
all around him. We need to get Sam.” She turned to look at the
door. “I don’t know who to trust.”

I didn’t trust Sam either. As an Elder, he
had to put the pack first. He would rush to help any potential Mate
for our kind. But at what cost to those women? Charlene, Gabby,
this new one who Luke had with him, and the one who Charlene’s son
had mentioned...Michelle. So many being found at once along with a
new kind of werewolf; it all had to mean something. A shiver of
trepidation ran through me.

I nodded and leaned my forehead against
hers.

“I’ll stand with you, always.”

If this is your first foray into the
Judgement world, welcome! I hope you enjoyed Clay and Gabby’s
story. To get inside Gabby’s head, you’ll definitely want to check
out Hope(less), book 1 in the Judgement of the Six series
(currently free!).

http://melissahaag.com/free-ebook/

For my long-time fans...I tried to make
Clay’s Hope a novella. I really did! But Clay had more of a story
than I’d anticipated. Let me know what you thought of Clay’s story.
Should I write the rest (Emmitt, Luke, Carlos, and the final
mystery man) or did this feel like too much of a rehash?

For more information regarding other titles,
to sign up for my newsletter, or to read exclusive content, please
visit my website
http://melissahaag.com
.

I’d love to hear from you!

Now Available

Hope(less)

A riveting, sweet romance by Melissa
Haag

In a world filled with people, Gabby is
uniquely alone. The tiny sparks she sees in her mind represent the
people around her, but she doesn't know why she sees them. A chance
encounter leads her closer to answers she's struggled to find and
into a hidden society where fur is optional.

“Gabby, wait,” Sam called.

Hearing him stand and follow me caused my
stomach to dip. My steps slowed for a heartbeat. Stepping through
the door could compromise my wellbeing...but staying inside
wouldn’t get me answers. The door beckoned. I stepped through onto
a packed dirt path and looked around.

The light that spilled from the door
illuminated a small area. The trees that crowded the building left
only a small gap of about twenty feet between the treeline and the
roofline, which cast the area in an early dusk. In the cleared
space near the back door, twenty men waited quietly. I frowned,
puzzled. Something still felt off. I’d expected to see many more
given the rushed Introductions.

Closing my eyes, I breathed deep and
focused. Tiny sparks flashed around me in the darkness. Sam, I saw,
stood to my right. His spark glowed steadily, not blinking at all.
The group of twenty was different.

Some of the werewolves’ lights blinked like
strobes. Some faster, some slower. Some so slow, I at first thought
they might have left. As I studied them, it began to make sense. I
wasn’t seeing werewolves quickly running all over the place, rather
an arrhythmic indication of a werewolf’s location. I focused beyond
the twenty. Lights too numerous to count stood out in the darkness.
It would take hours to meet them all.

Had all the prior Introductions been a
farce, a game to keep me from running until Sam could arrange the
real thing? How strongly were the Elders determined to see me
Mated? Would they let me leave unMated? Had my thoughts of college
been a dream? I struggled with my growing frustration and panic.
No. Not a dream. I wouldn’t give up.

I opened my eyes already knowing that the
group of twenty had doubled. I studied their faces and noted more
bruising and blood. Some men dressed in jeans and shirts while
others wore clothes too filthy from fighting to identify. Seeing
the filth and blood, I understood why they wanted to rush the
Introductions. Too many werewolves had arrived for this; and the
Mating challenges the Elders feared, had begun.

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. Anger
churned in my stomach at Sam for not telling me. I felt tricked and
yet sad for the men waiting.

“Sam,” I said, turning my gaze on him. There
was nothing playful in my look. I wanted to tell him that I would
never forgive him for this but knew the werewolves listening would
take my words as a rejection. It would take away what little hope
they had facing these numbers. Instead, I let my look convey
everything I felt.

He lowered his gaze and broke eye contact,
something he never did first. Good. He knew.

I turned away and studied the growing crowd.
I’d lived among them enough to know not to show intimidation. They
respected strength. With their hearing, I didn’t need to raise my
voice. Even those still hidden within the trees would hear me.

“No more fighting. There’s no need to wait
and fight for your place in tonight’s Introduction. I will meet you
all. Start a line here, and I’ll walk it. If I am not right for
you, there is no need for you to remain after I’ve passed you. You
may leave and know that I am honored by your presence here
tonight.”

Men silently stepped from the trees and
moved to create a line as I’d asked. They continued to emerge from
the woods even as the line extended around the corner. Because of
that, new rows started behind the first line. The shuffling
continued until roughly five hundred gathered. So many men focused
on me, all at the same time, made my stomach churn. If they were
human...I suppressed a shudder at the thought.

Ignoring the vast number, I moved toward the
first man, nodded stoically, then turned to start the slow walk
down the line. The Elders kept pace with me. I didn’t bother
pausing to meet anyone’s eyes. Only my scent mattered.

As I’d asked, those without a strong
interest stepped out of the line and walked back into the woods. It
allowed those behind them to move forward and take their place.
When I reached the end, I turned around to walk it again. I paced
the line several times in silence so all would get their fair
chance. As the number remaining decreased, my mood lightened. Sam
made note of names as needed. Soon only a handful of men
remained.